I See The Soul That Is Inside
by Snafu the Great
Summary: Songfic inspired by Avril Lavigne's Sk8tr Boi. Chris asks Excella out to the Christmas Dance. Excella refuses...and after ten years, she comes to regret her actions


**I See The Soul That Is Inside**  
A Resident Evil One-shot  
By Snafu the Great

Snafu's Disclaimer: What happens when you mix Resident Evil (which belongs to Capcom) with Sk8er Boi (which belongs to Avril Lavigne), and (in my case) several shots of tequila? This is the result. I had planned on using Leon, Claire and Ada, but I wanted a challenge, so I switched it up with Chris and Excella. Also, I am aware of the age difference between Chris Redfield and Excella Gionne in RE5 (Chris - 34; Excella - 28), so for the sake of this one-shotter, both are 18 when the fic begins.

Oh, and in case you don't know, Jill is returning in Marvel vs Capcom 3 as a DLC character. Unfortunately it's not her S.T.A.R.S. or her B.S.A.A.  
verison. It's her 'Evil Jill' look.

_He was a boy, she was a girl_  
_Can I make it anymore obvious_

Meet Chris Redfield. The eldest son of working-class parents, his father is a detective with the Raccoon Police Department; his mother the senior nurse at Raccoon Hospital.

Meet Excella Gionne. An exchange student from Italy attending Raccoon High School for her senior year. The heiress of the Gionne family fortune, her beauty and intelligence, combined with her aristocratic background, makes her arrogant and haughty towards others, men included.

_He was a punk, she did ballet_  
_What more could I say_

Aside from their social backgrounds, they could not be any more opposite of one another. Chris was something of a daredevil, a certified speed demon seen tearing up the streets of Raccoon City in his muscle car - a Pontiac GTO. He was also into karate and theater, whereas Excella was into the opera and ballet.

_He wanted her, she'd never tell_  
_Secretly, she wanted him as well_

Like most of the guys in his senior class (and some of the girls), Chris had the hots for Excella. What most people around Raccoon High didn't realize was that Excella was strongly attracted to Chris. Excella was no fool. She saw that Chris was very intelligent, and she admired his work ethic and drive, which rivaled that of her own.

_But all of her friends stuck up their nose_  
_They had a problem with his baggy clothes_

However, the popular elite of Raccoon High – the cheerleaders and the more well-to-do – had a problem with Chris. Maybe it was because his father was a cop (and had busted some of them for underage drinking), or maybe his attire consisted of cargo pants from The Gap, shirts from Hot Topic and other apparel from Old Navy, rather than the more popular variety, like Sean John, D&G, Versace, and several others.

_He was a skater boy, she said see ya later, boy_  
_He wasn't good enough for her_

With the Christmas Dance coming up, Chris had decided to ask Excella out. Being a Redfield, Chris was never one to beat around the bush. That was another thing that Excella liked about Chris, which was his boldness. So Chris approached her during free period. Excella liked to spend her period at study hall with several of her friends.

Chris took a seat across from the Gionne heiress. Excella looked up from her book. Chris looked at the title. "'The Prince,' by Niccolo Machiavelli.  
Good read. But I prefer Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War' myself."

Excella smiled. "So you read 'The Prince?'"

Chris nodded. "Did a report on it last year. You know the Christmas Dance is coming up, right?"

Excella nodded. "Are you asking me out to the Dance?"

"Am I that predictable?"

"Very," Excella replied mildly as she saw her friends approach Chris from behind.

"So what's your answer?"

"I'd have to say...no," Excella replied as her friends sat down. "Sorry, Chris. You're not my type."

Chris said nothing after that. He simply rose from his chair and left the library.

"What was that all about?" Melanie Warren asked.

"Chris asked me out for the Christmas Dance," Excella replied. "I said no."

"Good for you," the daughter of the Mayor Warren replied, patting Excella on the back. "Chris Redfield is a loser. I mean, his dad's a cop, for crying  
out loud."

As Melanie continued to rant about Chris' supposed shortcomings, Excella wondered in the back of her mind if she had made a big mistake. But she  
dismissed it and chatted with her best friend.

_She had a pretty face, but her head was up in space_  
_She needed to come back down to Earth_

Several days after the event, Excella felt bad about what she had did. After the Christmas Dance came and went, she found Chris and tried to apologize, only thing was that he was talking and walking with one of the other students. Excella knew her from the gymnastics team, but did not hang with the popular crowd. She was pretty, but like Chris, came from a working-class family.

'What was her name...?' Excella wondered. 'Jane...Julia...something like that...he could do so much better than her.'

Too bad Excella didn't realize she had her chance with Chris and blew it.

_Five years from now, she sits at home_  
_Feeding the baby, she's all alone_

Following graduation, Excella returned to Europe and attended Oxford University. After graduating with top honors, she took a job working as a  
executive with Tricell. At age 24, she was introduced to a rising scientist in the organization - Albert Wesker. The two hit it off and after a six-  
month courtship, they were married in a storybook wedding.

_She turns on the TV, guess who she sees_  
_Skater boy rockin' up MTV_

Six years had passed since Excella's wedding. Since then, she has been involved with her family's business, working as a Tricell executive. Wesker also works alongside her in Tricell as the company's senior scientist. Despite her success and the fact that she is madly in love with Wesker, Excella  
remained...unfulfilled.

While in New York on a business trip with Wesker, the pair had stopped for breakfast inside a upscale restaurant in Manhattan. 'Good Morning New York' was on and as Excella took a sip of her water, she looked at the TV and immediately recognized the man being interviewed...which was followed by a spit-take. He had gained at least 20 pounds of muscle, but there was no mistake as to who he was.

Chris Redfield.

Wesker looked at the man on the TV, then at his wife, who was coughing and hacking the remainder of her water out of her mouth, looking slightly  
amused. "You know him?" he asked.

Excella nodded weakly. "We met back in high school when I was an exchange student. He was a gearhead and an adrenaline junkie. He asked me out to the dance and I blew him off."

Wesker grunted in response. "Hn."

Wesker and Excella turned to the TV, where they watched the interview with great interest.

As it turned out, following graduating college, Chris had gotten into the theater, while at the same time, working as a stuntman for several movies.  
While working on one movie, the lead star had to pull out due to injury and he director hired him on the spot for the lead role. Chris' big screen  
debut had not only got him rave reviews, but also netted him his first Oscar.

Since then, Chris had became a bona fide superstar. He was also known for raising money for various charities, even donating some of his film's profits to them as well. Despite being an A-list star, Chris remained humble to a fault, shunning the fast life of a movie star for a more quiet life with his wife.

That catches Excella's attention. 'He's married? To who?'

_She calls up her friends, they already know_  
_And they've all got tickets to see his show_

Chris is also in New York for a charity fund raiser, raising money for several children's hospitals in the city. With Wesker preparing to leave for  
Africa in search for a rare orchid, Excella used her connections to net herself a ticket for the fund raiser, which will take place later on that  
night.

_She tags along, and stands in the crowd_  
_Looks up at the man that she turned down_

The fund raiser took place at the Waldorf-Astoria. Excella (in her RE5 get-up) was present in the audience as Chris presented the hospitals with a  
check for a cool $40 million.

_He was a skater boy, she said see ya later, boy_  
_He wasn't good enough for her_

Excella was happy for Chris' success...but at the same time, she was sad. Even she knew that Chris had taken her refusal pretty hard, and had steered clear of her for the remainder of the year. Even more so, Chris did not notice her in the crowd. Either that, or he was ignoring her. Maybe it was the fact that he had a pretty lady on his arm; a very attractive, pale-skinned blonde woman. She was dressed in a stunning chesogam (Chinese-style dress, the kind you see Leifang fight in) - blue with black rose imprints, the chesogam's slits showing off her toned legs. Her hair was done up in a simply ponytail.

_Now he's a superstar, slammin' on his guitar_  
_Does your pretty face see what he's worth?_

'That could have been me up there with him,' Excella thought as she watched Chris mingle with the guests. Sure she was gaga over Wesker, but that single thought was in the back of her mind, even after all these years. What would have happened if she had accepted Chris' offer to the Dance?

'Either way, it's too late now,' Excella thought dejectedly. 'I better leave before I make myself even more pathetic.'

As Excella departed from the ballroom, her exit was noticed by the blonde woman. She excused herself for the moment and went after Excella.

_Sorry girl, but you missed out_  
_Well tough luck, that boy's mine now_

"Excella Gionne. You haven't changed."

Excella turned around. Standing behind her was the woman she had seen at Chris' side.

Excella looked at the woman. "Do I know you?"

The woman smiled meanly. "You should. We were seniors at Raccoon High. I had dyed brown hair then."

Excella frowned. "Your name started with a J, right?"

The blonde nodded. "It's Jill. Formerly Jill Valentine. It's Jill Redfield now."

_We are more than just good friends_  
_This is how the story ends_

"Redfield...you married him?"

Jill nodded. "Been married since our freshman year in college."

Excella mentally slapped herself. She remembered reading about Jill in the papers. Her gymnastics skills had earned her a scholarship to college. Jill  
would then go on to win several championships in state, national and international competitions, and would also go and compete in the summer Olympics twice. Following her gold medals in the Summer Olympics, Jill had retired and became a writer of various novels, while her husband's movie career took off.

_Too bad that you can't see_  
_See that man that boy could be_

Excella was at a loss of words.

"So what are you doing here?" Jill asked. "Tricell's making a donation for the charity?"

"Um..."

Jill then nodded in understanding. "Oh...I see. You're here to see Chris. I thought you were married." After a moment, Jill continued. "I was there,  
you know. When you turned him down for the dance. You really hurt him that day."

"I...I'm sorry," Excella meekly replied.

_There's more that meets the eye_  
_I see the soul that is inside_

"You couldn't see Chris for what he truly is," Jill continued. "I did. After the Christmas Dance came and went, we were assigned to work on a project together. We became friends. By the time the Spring Dance came around, we were dating. You only saw his outward appearance, Excella. I saw what he could be. I looked past his exterior and looked into his soul. Had you gotten to know him better, then this would not have happened."

_He's just a boy, and I'm just a girl_  
_Can I make it anymore obvious_

_We are in love, haven't you heard_  
_How we rock each other's world_

"Are you saying that this is my fault?" Excella sneered.

"No...I really should thank you for shooting him down," Jill replied. "Otherwise, we wouldn't be together. Face it, Gionne. Chris is my husband, and I  
will stand by him through thick and thin. That's how much I love him, and he feels the same way." She smiled. "You can almost say that our love was predestined."

_I'm with the skater boy, I said see ya later boy_  
_I'll be backstage after the show_

"Excella...go home," Jill concluded. "Chris is mine, and I will not give him up. He has gotten over you, and doesn't want to see you again. Go to your  
husband and have a nice life." The way Jill had said it sounded like she was willing to fight for her husband.

Seeing as there was nothing left to say, Jill turned on her heels and left, leaving Excella in the lobby, defeated. The Gionne heir then left the  
hotel.

_I'll be back at the studio singing the song we wrote_  
_About a girl you used to know_

Jill returned to the party, and found Chris.

"There you are," Chris said, wrapping one arm around her waist. "What took you so long?"

"Oh, ran into an old friend," Jill replied nonchalantly. "Nothing special. Come on. Your adoring public awaits."

Chris chuckled as husband and wife returned to the gala.


End file.
